August 2012

How to read a Schengen visa?

Valable pour/ Valid for: Territories where the visa is valid If your visa states “ETATS SCHENGEN”, you may travel throughout the Schengen area (France, as well as Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Spain, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, Czech Republic); If your visa states a succession of letters – country codes -, you may only travel to the countries the letters refer to: A (Austria), B (Belgium), CH (Switzerland), CZE (Czech Republic), D (Germany), DK (Denmark), E (Spain), EST (Estonia), F (France), FIN (Finland), GR (Greece), H (Hungary), I (Italy), IS (Iceland), L (Luxembourg), LT (Lithuania), LVA (Latvia), M (Malta), N (Norway), NL (Netherlands), P (Portugal), PL (Poland), S (Sweden), SK (Slovakia), SVN (Slovenia); If your visa states “ETATS SCHENGEN”, followed by a minus sign in brackets then letters, i.e. country codes, you may travel to all Schengen countries except for the country(ies) that is(are) listed – see country code above; If your visa states “FRANCE + 1 TRANSIT SCHENGEN”, you may only transit through one Schengen country to reach France; If your visa states “FRANCE”, you may only go to France; If your visa states “DEPARTEMENT D’OUTRE MER (FRANCE)”, you may travel to the Departments/ Territories(s) indicated under the heading “Remarks”.Du/ From:
First date of entry into the Schengen area.Au/ To:
Date you must leave the Schengen area. Thus, those dates indicate the time period when entry is permitted into the country (and not the authorized period of stay).Type de visa/ Type of visa:
“A”: Airport transit visa – it allows stopover or transfer within the “international” or “customs” zone of the airport but no entry into the country;
“C”: Short-stay visa – stays which do not exceed three months, 90 days, over a six-month period;
“D”: Long-stay visa – stay of more than 3 months in France.Nbre d’entrees/ Number of entries:
“MULT”: unlimited entries into the Schengen area;
“1”: single entry: should you exit the Schengen area, you would need to apply for a new visa to re-enter the Schengen area;
“2”: two entries: you may enter the Schengen area twice.Duree de sejour/ Length of stay:
Maximum number of days you may spend in the Schengen area within the visa validity (i.e. To… From…).
If you are the holder of a circulation visa, i.e. short stay visa valid from 1 to 5 years, ’90 days’ means that you may spend a maximum of 90 days per six-month period.Delivre a/ Issued in:
Place of issue.Le/ The:
Date of issue of the visa.N de passport/ Passport number:
Your passport number.Nom, Prenom/ Surname, given name:
Your surnames and given names.